Lottery Scam - January 11, 2006

Please be sure to read my Lottery Scams Home Page

Things I Did, Below

I, personally, receive email in HTML format. The following was received (and looked) like I received it.  At the time, I was more interested in the message than the headers and do not have the original. This is the copy of a PDF version I used to create images for the original OFP. I saved THAT as RTF, and used it and the original images to recreate the look, below.

(Note: The width and margins are a little off, and I couldn't QUITE match the font used in the first paragraph (part of an image), so wrapping is a little off, but I made sure all spacing was correct. I include the whole text, here, so search engines can find bits and pieces of it.

• I removed my email addresses. These came to various accounts and some no longer exist. There are places on this site you can get hold of me if you wish or need to. They are protected from spambots using JavaScript, but all you have to do is click on them.
• All scammer and related email addresses, and any actual website links have been changed, at least putting spaces into them. They appear as underlined blue links, though they aren't.
• Any notes I added in the actual letter are in square brackets ("[" "]"), are bold, red in color, and highlighted. If what I found "behind the links" (email or website) are different than what was displayed, I will include them in this type of note.
• All spelling, spacing, line-wrapping, and punctuation errors are the ones that appeared in the original received email. (I may or may not analyze some or all of these.)

Scam Example
Received 01/11/2006

This is one of the more elaborate versions of this scam that I've ever seen. (Most I've seen are simple text.) Of course, I had never entered any foreign lottery, and knew about this, so...

Note that everything in it says "British", but the little whirling (animated) globe (hard to tell in this page, it it WAS animated) at the bottom of the email is from the SEDC (Saudi Export Development Center) Site. I know this because I actually checked the site, itself, out. No... Of course I didn't click the link. I went directly to the home page (which was in Arabic - recognized by all the news channels showing terrorist websites. They DID have an English link, which I clicked. When searching in Google, there are plenty of SEDCs in the US (Not Saudi anything), but it also showed the English translation/version. (Hopefully, Homeland Security will realize that I was checking out this email, and not visiting for any other reason! - I'll let you know if I get visitors! ANOTHER reason NOT TO CLICK THE LINKS!)

From: "BRITISH ONLINE LOTTERY" <uk_onlinelottery101_39 @ msn.com> [DO NOT send email to this address]
To: [my_address_removed]
Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 9:34 PM
Subject: NOTIFICATION

BRITISH ONLINE LOTTERY PROMOTION

28 TANFIELD ROAD
CROYDON.LONDON

Ref: BTL/101OXI/02
Batch: 16/211/0374

BOL NOTIFICATION DESK

Participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn randomly from a pool of over 100,000 names of e-mail addresses drawn from Europe, America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Middle-East, parts of Africa, and North & South America as part of our international promotions programme conducted annually to encourage prospective overseas entries. We hope with part of your prize awards, you will take part in our subsequent lottery jackpots.This promotion takes place biannually.

Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 56475600545 188 with Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers: ((13)-(43)-(06)-(15)-(02)(40)bonus # (09)., which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd
category.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of £500,000 (Five hundred thousand pounds sterling) in cash credited to file  KTU/9023118308/03.
This is from a total cash prize of £2,000,000,00 shared amongst the first four (4) lucky winners in this category.

Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European booklet representative office in Europe as indicated in your play coupon.In view of this, your £500,000 (five hundred thousand poundssterling) would be released to you by any of our courier department.Ouragent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release ofyour funds as soon as you contact him/her.

For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning informationconfidential till your claim is processed and your money remitted to youin whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize.This is part of ourprecautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse ofthis program. Please be warned !!!

To begin your claim, you have to fill and send the requirement stated below to your claims officer(MR.GILLART MILTON) with the contact below:

Verification/Claims Requirements:
==================              

1.  Name in full-----------------------------------------
2.  Address---------------------------------------------
3.  Nationality-----------------------------------------
4.  Age-------------------------------------------------
5.  Sex------------------------------------------------
6.  Email-----------------------------------------------
7.  Ticket Number, Serial Number,-----------------
    
8.  Occupation----------------------------------------
9.  Phone/Fax----------------------------------------
    

GARRY MELTON (Mr.)

E MAIL: gillartmilton @ excite.com [DO NOT send email to this address]

PHONE # +44-702-305-0563 [DO NOT this phone number]

Goodluck from me and members of staff of the BRITISH ONLINE LOTTERY

Yours faithfully,

Mrs Stephanie Harry
Director Online International Promotions Unit

---

[NOTE: I left names, email addresses, and phone numbers in here for the search engines to find. DO NOT TRY TO CONTACT THEM! I'm SURE you will be ripped off! -LE]

Notes

Please be sure to note the grammar, punctuation and spacing problems. If this were REAL, there should not be any. I realize that this was supposed to be a Foreign Lottery, so the English may not be absolutely... correct(?), but if it were real, I would believe that they had individuals in all countries from which the names were drawn update, edit and correct problems with any of the letters. (Grammar, punctuation and spacing problems are also some of the indicators that an email is fake.)

Problems I see: (Ok... Where to start... Guess I'll start at the top)

• Obvious (to me, anyway) errors:
  • ANY "Online" Lottery does NOT have it's own email address? (uk_onlinelottery101_39 @ msn.com) Are you kidding me? AND they use a "throwaway" address at MSN (formerly HOTMAIL)?
  • Why does the reference number at the top (Ref: BTL/101OXI/02 Batch: 16/211/0374) NOT match the file number in the message (KTU/9023118308/03) They look like the same format...
  • Knowing that entering foreign lotteries from the US is ILLEGAL, I would also ASSUME that valid lottery officials would, too. So why would they chose email addresses from America "to encourage prospective overseas entries." If this were real, this would put the ACTUAL lottery officials on a VERY bad footing with the US Trade Department!
  • The first paragraph states: "part of our international promotions programme conducted annually" AND ends with "This promotion takes place biannually." Which is it?
  • Why was are the numbered balls AND the first paragraph of the letter an image? [To be sure, I don't know whether this was a function of the conversion from PDF to WORD. HOWEVER, all OTHER pictures were separated ok. -bs]
  • Why is "program" spelled TWO DIFFERENT WAYS (and "programme" - isn't this the "British" spelling of the word?
  • Paragraph break problem after paragraph telling ME how much I won.
  • gillartmilton @ excite.com - The name "Gillart Milton" is listed above the "form". Who the hell is Garry Melton? (And, you DID notice the address is from EXCITE, and not from the lottery, a bank or a lawyer's office?
  • Spacing errors [NOTE: The conversion to PDF then to WORD created a lot of "spacing errors" on it's own. I used the PDF to verify the spacing errors enumerated and shown above. -bs]:
    • "... subsequent lottery jackpots.This promotion ..."
    • (02)(40)bonus # (09).,
    • coupon.In view of this,
    • our courier department.Our
    • claim your prize.This is part of our
    • officer(MR.GILLART MILTON)
    • Goodluck from me and
  • Punctuation errors:
    • "... BRITISH ONLINE LOTTERY PROMOTION, program held ..."
    • (02)(40)bonus # (09).,
    • Please be warned !!!
    • Dashes were used in the "fill-in form"

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